System Preferences will not open

Since I installed the last update for Big Sur (11.2) the System Preferences app will not open. When I click on Apple/SystemPreferences it comes up with a Finder window saying 'The application can't be opened' with the error number reading -1 or 126.

Any ideas how to fix this without uninstalling the OS? I'm receiving notifications that a new system update is waiting to be installed but it hasn't installed over the last few days.

Cheers :)